CHAPTER VI

CYRIL’S EULOGY OF A LETTER FROM JOHN OF ANTIOCH

ON occasion of the arrival of Paul, bishop of Emesa, at Alexandria, and his delivery before the church of that discourse which is extant on this subject, Cyril also, after highly commending the epistle of John, wrote to him in these words: “Let the heavens rejoice and the earth be glad, for the middle wall of partition is broken down, exasperation is stilled, and all occasion for dissension utterly removed through the bestowal of peace upon his churches by Christ, the Saviour of us all; at the call, too, of our most religious and divinely favoured sovereigns, who, in excellent imitation of ancestral piety, preserve in their own souls a well-founded and unshaken maintenance of the true faith, and a singular care for the holy churches, that they may acquire an everlasting renown, and render their reign most glorious. On them the Lord of Hosts himself bestows blessings with a bountiful hand, and grants them victory over their adversaries. Victory He does bestow: for never can he lie who says, As I live, saith the Lord, those that glorify me, I glorify. On the arrival, then, of my most pious brother and fellow minister, my lord Paul, at Alexandria, I was filled with delight, and with great reason, at the mediation of such a man, and his voluntary engagement in labours beyond his strength, in order that he might subdue the malice of the devil, close our breaches, and, by the removal of the stumbling-blocks that lay between us, might crown both our churches and yours with unanimity and peace.” And presently he proceeds thus: “That the dissension of the church has been altogether unnecessary and without sufficient ground, I am fully convinced, now that my lord the most pious bishop Paul has brought a paper presenting an unexceptionable confession of the faith, and has assured me that it was drawn up by your holiness and the most pious bishops of your country.” And such is the writing thus drawn up, and inserted verbatim in the epistle; which, with reference to the Mother of God, speaks as follows: “When we read these your sacred words, and were conscious that our own sentiments were correspondent—for there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism—we glorified God, the Preserver of all things, with a feeling of mutual joy, that both your churches and ours maintain a faith in agreement with the divinely inspired Scriptures and the tradition of our holy fathers.” Of these matters any one may be assured, who is disposed to investigate diligently the transactions of those times.